The WORD today
(see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020818.cfm)
reminds me and my faith should be - Strong, humble, and persistent.
In the gospel, we see a woman
we should imitate. She showed great
humility, persistence, and strong faith. This is one of the few
times Jesus actually “tests” a person. Usually, Jesus immediately grants
people’s requests – for healing from sickness and disease, from freedom from
evil spirits, even from death. However, today’s gospel shows us a different side
of Jesus. His approach initially seems tough. “Let
the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs” – meaning Jews first, the chosen people.
Sila muna ang tutulungan ko, tsaka na kayo. It doesn’t stop there. Jesus
even compares her (being a Greek makes her a non Jew, a gentile) to a dog.
Grabe diba, request denied na nga, tapos kinumpara pa sa aso.
Did she stop there? Of
course not!
Hindi porke di
mo agad nakuha ang pinag dadasal mo, titigil ka na. Minsan gusto siguro makita
ng Diyos gaano mo ka gusto and pinagdadasal mo, at gaano kalakas ang tiwala mo
sa kanya.
It’s inspiring how
great the woman’s faith, persistence and humility.
She was humble to come to him for her
daughter’s healing, and was humble enough to accept and not be offended by
Jesus words. Even though she did not get a warm treatment, she did not back
down. Then we see her faith, na kahit parang nireject na
sya ni Jesus, she still believed.
We also see her persistence. She
did not just leave. She humbly insisted on her request. on her faith. Sabi nya
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the
children’s scraps.” Kung baga, sabi nya, OK lang Lord na kung tingin mo aso kami, pero may faith
parin ako na kahit konti, kahit tira tira nalang ng para sa Jews, ay makakapag
pagaling sa anak ko. And when Jesus told her that her daughter is
free from the demon, she did not say “Lord, sumama ka naman sakin para sure” or
“Lord, are you sure?” She just went home
Hindi
lahat ng bagay nakukuha sa isang dasal. Minsan kailangang magpakumbaba pa,
magdasal pa, at mangulit pa.
How about us? How do we react
When God seem to say “no” to our requests, even if we feel that our request is
for our good, or for other people’s good, what do we tell him? Do we get mad,
insisting that what we are asking is a good thing, or do we humbly accept his
will but keeping the faith? Do we respectfully ask in faith, or are we proud,
demanding that God grant our requests because we feel we are entitled to it?
May we always remember to have complete faith in God, yet humble enough to know and accept that His will is perfect, even if it does not seem to coincide with ours.
May we always remember to have complete faith in God, yet humble enough to know and accept that His will is perfect, even if it does not seem to coincide with ours.
Father God,
Thank you
for today. thank you for another day to live. Thank you for the inspiring
reminder. Lord, I thank you for reminding me how important faith, humility and
persistence are. Thank you for inspiring and challenging me, Lord. I am sorry
for the times I act like a spoiled child – wanting things done my way, wanting
prayers to be answered my way and in my time. Lord, I pray that you help me
have a heart like the woman. May my faith be firm, even when you’re not
answering me the way I want to. May I be persistent in praying even when I
don’t seem to get what I want. And may I always be humble to submit to your
perfect will, not mine, especially when my will is different from yours. Amen
Blessed
Day!
In
Christ,
-g-
February 8, 2018
Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 332
Lectionary: 332
Reading 1 1 KGS 11:4-13
When Solomon was old his wives
had turned his heart to strange gods,
and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God,
as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD;
he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,
and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
(for though the LORD had forbidden him
this very act of following strange gods,
Solomon had not obeyed him).
So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father David;
it is your son whom I will deprive.
Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God,
as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD;
he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,
and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
(for though the LORD had forbidden him
this very act of following strange gods,
Solomon had not obeyed him).
So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father David;
it is your son whom I will deprive.
Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
Responsorial Psalm PS 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 AND 40
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Alleluia JAS 1:21BC
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of
Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
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